Life and Religion

I’m at the home of "Jordan Keith," a wealthy businessman who is always hosting something to raise money for this or that. He has a 10,000 square foot home near Lake Norman, and tonight he’s throwing a spring-themed bash to raise money for a local children’s charity.

When I arrive with Carmen and Keisha, the caterers and hired help are putting the finishing touches on the setup as the guests begin to trickle in. We make our way to the kitchen, where everyone is congregating around the food and drink stations that are already set up.

Shortly thereafter, Jordan makes his grand entrance. Always the gracious host, he works the crowd, greeting guests and making sure everyone is comfortable and has what they need.

His girlfriend, socialite "Ivory Mitchell," stands by his side as he makes his rounds. It’s a sight that’s unfamiliar to most who know Jordan. He’s never been a one-woman man.

Jordan meets his match

Jordan Keith is a notorious ladies’ man. Women are always fawning and fighting over him. I’ve even heard of shots being fired. You see, as high-brow as he is perceived to be, he’s always had a penchant for dealing with ratchet women – the ones that wear pounds of makeup, miles of lashes, dresses up to here and extensions down to there.

He has never been one to make apologies for his dating habits. He says he dealt with the ratchets because he was a ratchet type of dude.

“Ain’t no sense in me ruining a good woman,” he would always say.

And I’ll give him that. He was always straight up with his women. He’d tell them that he wasn’t into anything serious. He was just looking for a good time, and they’d bite the bait every time.

It seems they just can resist his charm. His gift of gab can make a street beggar feel like a million bucks without shelling out a single cent. He’s smart. He’s funny and has a smile that can melt you from the inside out.

And then there’s the fact that he’s well paid and very generous with his money. He burns through it like there’s no tomorrow. The women that keep his interest beyond two dates get anything they want – from cars and furs to paid college tuitions and lavish vacations.

But it seems that Jordan has met his match in Ivory. She’s probably the first woman he’s ever dealt with that was unwilling to put up with his philandering ways. And he seems to have gladly given it all up to appease her. He couldn’t keep her happy spoiling her with expensive gifts. She comes from old money and has the means to buy herself whatever she desires.

In fact, she’s probably worth more than him. If she isn’t yet, she soon will be in that she’s building her own empire dabbling in everything from technology to real estate. And, even though she is business-minded, she’s also domesticated and holds it down at home. It’s clear that she doesn’t need Jordan or his money, but still she treats him like a king and goes out of her way to show him how much he’s appreciated. But soon it all comes to an end when Jordan’s shady past catches up with him.

Who is Shelby?

A few weeks after the party, Jordan and Ivory’s love affair takes a turn for the worse. It was a typical Friday afternoon. They had plans to go away for the weekend so he left work early to head home and finish packing.

He pulls up and finds Ivory’s car in the driveway. She doesn’t live with him, but has a key. It’s the first time he’d ever given a woman the keys to his castle, but whenever he comes home to find her in the kitchen wearing something sexy and cooking his favorite meals, he’s glad that he did.

When Jordan walks through the door Ivory doesn’t rush to greet him as she usually does. He doesn’t smell anything cooking. The lights are turned down, and Ivory’s on the couch with a glass of wine, waiting for him in the dark.

He barely makes it through the door before he hears her say, “Who the hell is Shelby?”

“I don’t know,” he lies. He definitely knows Shelby. She’s one of the women he was seeing before he and Ivory got serious. He was seeing both of them at the same time for the first few months, but after he and Ivory agreed to be monogamous, he cut things off with Shelby and the rest of the ratchets.

But Shelby didn’t take the news too well. She called him ranting and raving. She showed up at his office a few times and had to be escorted out by security. She started harassing his other women – stalking them on Facebook and sending them threatening messages.

She even threatened to commit suicide if he didn’t take her back. When Jordan didn’t respond, she tried to blackmail him by threatening to divulge secrets about his past to the media. He hired a lawyer and got an order of protection, which seemed to work because she vanished from his life. Or so he thought.

As he stands in the foyer trying to collect his thoughts, Ivory drinks the last of the wine, grabs her cell phone off the coffee table and walks toward him.

“Oh, so you don’t know her,” she asks, her voice escalating. The fury of her tone makes him take a step back in fear of what was to come next. She shoves her phone in his face. It takes a moment for him to realize what is displayed on the screen. It’s photos of him and Shelby doing unmentionable things.

“You still want to act like you don’t know her?” Ivory asks. He doesn’t answer. She slaps him across the face so hard he hears ringing in his ears as she walks out, slamming the door behind her.

He stands there for a few moments wondering what just happened. Should he go after her? No, she’s too mad. He figures that if he tries to explain, she won’t believe him anyway.

He walks upstairs to find a concoction of baby oil and bleach poured all over his 1500-thread count Egyptian cotton sheets. She also bleached his suits and took a pair of scissors to his expensive shoe collection. His cologne bottles are all busted. And the words “Rot in Hell” are scribbled on his bathroom mirror in permanent marker.

As he surveys the damage, he hears his phone beep alerting him that he's received a new text message. He hopes it’s from Ivory. Instead, it's from Shelby and simply reads, “I’m pregnant. It’s yours.”

(Editor's Note: Some names and details have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty.)